1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wind turbine comprising a tower, a nacelle that is located on the tower and a rotor that is connected to the nacelle and has a rotor shaft, a rotor hub and at least one rotor blade that is fixed to the rotor hub, the wind turbine having a locking device having a locking bolt that can be driven into a locking bolt recess in order to positively lock the rotor.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The positive locking of the rotor of a wind turbine is always necessary when it has to be guaranteed that a rotation of the rotor is ruled out, for example during repair and maintenance of wind turbines or when bringing the rotor into a parking position under extreme weather conditions.
A method for locking the rotor is known from DE 10 2004 013 624 A1. To this end, a disc is provided that is fixed concentrically to the rotor axis and is penetrated by at least one opening into which a locking bolt that extends parallel to the rotor axis and is supported on the frame construction of the wind turbine can be driven in preferably hydraulically and locks the rotor.
The disadvantage of this method and of the constructive design connected therewith is however that this implementation runs counter to the trend to more compact and lighter units. In particular in the case of wind turbines without a nacelle shroud the locking bolts that are arranged on the nacelle and can often be displaced hydraulically are directly exposed to the weather conditions, leading to a high susceptibility of this safety system due to the ingress of humidity and aerosols.
Integrating the locking bolt mechanism or hydraulics into the housing of the shroudless nacelle is not recommended on account of the risk that humidity and aerosols can also enter the components of the nacelle and can damage the nacelle.
A further disadvantage consists in the fact that securing the locking bolt mechanism to the nacelle is very complicated since large forces can arise in the connection area of locking bolt and nacelle that have to be transmitted in a very complicated manner into the housing and the support structure. In addition, also a large disc provided with several holes has to be introduced between the rotor shaft and the hub and as a very voluminous component complicates the assembly of a wind turbine.